Forensic Laboratory Equipment

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Transcript of Forensic Laboratory Equipment

Compound and Stereo MicroscopeA stereo microscope is used to characterize soil samples, plant parts, glass chards, clothing fibers. A modified type of compound microscope is a petrographic microscope. It uses polarized light to determine object density. These microscopes can magnify objects as small as 10 microns up to 1000 times.

Transmission Electron Microscope

This microscope sends a beam of electrons through a very thin section and can magnify it up to 500000 times. The lab can take a very thin slice of a specimen and determine, for example, the exact time of death. TEMs are used to evaluate trace evidence left at a crime scene.Photography in the crime labAlternate light photography uses lasers and UV light to reveal "hidden" evidence from a crime scene such as latent fingerprints and body fluids. Bone, teeth and narcotics will also fluoresce. CSI labs spray an area with a chemical like luminol to help detect evidence.

The Crime Scene Laboratory

Forensic Laboratory Equipment

Evidence Collected at a crime scene is transported to be analyzed at a crime scene lab

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)SEMs can magnify the surface of solid objects up to 200,000. They are used to evaluate the following:

Much information can be obtained from bullets as they leave residues that may be photographed and analyzed in the lab. Each gun leaves characteristic marks on each bullet, like a fingerprint that may be used to identify a weapon. Ballistics Photography may also be used to determine the distance, velocity, and angle a weapon was fired.